You can read all about the benefits of ESCMID membership and sign up online. Find out about ESCMID's organizational structure, its governing regulations as well as collaborations with other organizations.

The Calendar lists upcoming congresses, conferences and educational courses organized or endorsed/promoted by ESCMID. You can find information on past events in the archive. Material from these events can be found in the ESCMID eLibrary.

European Committee on Infection Control (EUCIC)

Current activities

06 February 2018

ECDC will contribute to EUCIC's training programme

EUCIC is delighted that the European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) has agreed to contribute to the training programme. ECDC’s contribution is expected in the areas of surveillance, epidemiology and data analysis, and the centre will offer an observership programme covering several of the modules.

31 January 2018

32 European CME credits (ECMEC) for the basic module

EACCME granted a total of 32 European CME credits (ECMEC) for the basic module in its training programme to attain the 'Infection Prevention and Control Certificate'

We applied for 29 and got 32 credit points. Congratulations to the team!

18 January 2018

Application for 29 European credit points for the basic module (Infection Prevention and Control Certificate)

EUCIC has applied for 29 European CME credits (ECMEC) for the basic module in its training programme to attain the 'Infection Prevention and Control Certificate' at EACCME.

This month, a selection of articles related to infection control in intensive care units highlights important findings on:

The epidemiology of multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii

Intervention to prevent catheter-associated infections

Understanding the physiopathology of ventilator associated pneumonia and improvement of practices

Enjoy the reading!!

27 November 2017

EUCIC launches a European training programme in Infection Prevention and Control in healthcare settings.

The two-year training programme starts in February 2018 with a basic and compulsory module in Groningen. Advanced modules follow in June and October of 2018, and in January, March, May and September of 2019. In addition, trainees will have the opportunity to attend local modules in different countries comprising the topics of the curriculum, follow e-learning modules, and apply for observerships.

All medical doctors and pharmacists, nurses or other healthcare professionals with a MSc or PhD are eligible. After successful completion of the programme (acquiring ~60 ECTS), trainees will receive the EUCIC Certificate in Infection Prevention and Control.

The paper is entitled: "The Methodology of Surveillance for Antimicrobial Resistance and Healthcare-Associated Infections in Europe (SUSPIRE): A Systematic Review of Publicly Available Information" and is authored by Núñez-Núñez M, Navarro MD, Palomo V, Rajendran NB, Del Toro MD, Voss A, Sharland M, Sifakis F, Tacconelli E, Rodríguez-Baño J; members of EPI-NET, COMBACTE-MAGNET and the EUCIC group for SUSPIRE.

Every 5 May, WHO calls for a renewed focus on hand hygiene improvement and sustainability in health care. Health care settings are asked to sign up to the WHO 5 May SAVE LIVES: Clean Your Hands Campaign if not already and to respond to the call to action.

Fight antibiotic resistance - it's in your hands

WHO urges you to focus on the fight against antibiotic resistance in the context of hand hygiene and infection prevention and control (IPC) programmes. Hand hygiene is at the core of effective IPC to combat antibiotic resistance, and campaigning each year on or around 5 May is one important part of improving behaviour towards IPC best practices. This year the campaign materials are co-branded with ‘Antibiotics, handle with care’ to demonstrate unity between antimicrobial resistance and IPC efforts.

IPC leaders need to champion hand hygiene campaigning and progress their journey of integrating WHO’s “core components” for infection prevention and control in every health facility. Everyone can play their part and here’s how:

Start of EUCIC's training programme "the European Infection Prevention and Control Certificate" at the end of 2017

Europe’s approach to infection prevention and control (IPC) is still very heterogeneous among different countries and sometimes also among different healthcare settings within the same country. However, every country has a certain expertise and/or specialty to offer. The mutual exchange of knowledge between European institutes provides a unique perspective on IPC, resulting in a unique European competence. Based on this perspective and competence, a specific educational programme "the European Infection Prevention and Control Certificate" was developed to train a new generation of IPC specialists.

The programme will be presented during this years’ ECCMID in Vienna. Registration for students and submission of applications from institutes to apply to be among the excellence and training centres that offer programme modules, opens at the end of 2017.

If you are interested in receiving further information and being updated on the programme, please leave your name and email address here. Or, come and visit us at the EUCIC booth (part of ESCMID World) at ECCMID 2017!

The EUCIC Implementation Working Group has developed an online survey that should provide an overview on major limitations of the implementation of extensive infection prevention and control measures (IPCM) against the spread of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative (MDR-GN) bacteria among patients in European hospitals. This project also grants national societies a chance to bring specific local drivers of non-compliance with guideline indications on the table for political discussion.

The results of the survey will help to define major structural, educational, and other limitations in implementing available guidelines in controlling MDR-GN in European hospitals, as well as define resource needs. The survey focuses on current legislation and guideline indications by country and implementation and feasibility of those in “real life”. Regular updates on the progression on the survey can be found HERE.

The questionnaire requires only ~15 minutes to be completed. In case you have local definitions for MDR-GN or local infection control guidelines or guidance documents, you are encouraged to upload the documents. Please do so even if the documents are not available in English.

EUCIC, ESGAP and EUCAST launched a European survey to explore in which countries selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility testing results has already been implemented at a large scale (regional, national) and how it has been organized. The survey “Selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility test results in European countries: an ESCMID cross-sectional survey” has now been published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents.

The European Committee on Infection Control (EUCIC) publishes its second newsletter. The objective is to establish a continuous flow of information to all interested members of the clinical microbiology, hospital hygiene/infection control and infectious diseases community, regarding recent news, future activities and the evolution of the overall project. The December newsletter contains information about EUCIC's past and future activities.

The European Committee on Infection Control (EUCIC) and the ESCMID Study Group for Antibiotic Policies (ESGAP) organize a number of activities to promote prudent use of antibiotics in Europe. They include events at healthcare institutions and public campaigns on antimicrobial resistance (AMR), surveillance and antibiotic stewardship programmes in Moldova, Turkey, Spain, Cyprus and the Netherlands.

24 October 2016

EUCIC supports the PERCEPT-R project: Perception of the antimicrobial resistance in Europe

Goal: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is now recognised as a serious global threat. The control of AMR requires a national, international coordination across hospitals, region and borders on both the reduction/adaptation of antibiotic use and the implementation of specific precautions to avoid cross-transmission of multi-drug resistant organisms (MDRO). Two neighbouring countries, regions or hospitals could differ in prevention of cross-transmission of MDRO with standard precautions for one and strict contact precautions for the other. Additionally, organisms are sometimes considered as a threat in some countries but not in others. For example, glycopeptide resistant Enterococci (GRE) are considered as a major problem in some countries with a strong control strategy based on “search and isolate” measures while they are not taken in consideration in other European countries. The framework of the infection control policy and the prevention of the antimicrobial resistance varies across different countries. The societal/cultural context and the administrative framework could play a role in the differences of national strategies. The study of infection control physicians (ICPs) perception regarding the antimicrobial resistance and infection control strategies in Europe may allow explaining the wider choice of strategies and giving helpful data to build efficient interventions and national infection control strategies. In this study, we aim to investigate the perception of infection control specialists regarding AMR and IPC in a panel of European countries, and the role played by the cultural, contextual and behavioral aspects on the prevention of AMR.

We are now reaching the last step. The website dedicated for the online survey has been modified several times. We will contact participants for the survey very soon. An update will be added when the study will be launched.

Looking at the components and implementation of Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) measures in European hospitals, a mosaic is the first picture you could easily use to describe it state E. Tacconelli and N. Mutters in their editorial. Link to issue

01 December 2015

EUCIC, ESGAP, EUCAST conduct antibiotic susceptibility testing survey

The three groups will start conducting a European survey this week to explore in which countries selective reporting of antibiotic susceptibility testing results has been already implemented on a large scale (regional, national) and how it has been organized. For this purpose, a questionnaire survey will be sent out to national contacts in the first week of December. We look forward to active participation of the national representatives.

The European Committee on Infection Control (EUCIC) publishes its first newsletter. The objective is to establish a continuous flow of information to all interested members of the clinical microbiology, hospital hygiene/infection control and infectious diseases community, regarding recent news, future activities and the evolution of the overall project. The October newsletter contains information about EUCIC's goals as well as past and future activities of the committee.

EUCIC is supporting the first European Massive Open Online Course on Antimicrobial Stewardship, which will start 28 September 2015 with the goal of raising the awareness of antimicrobial resistance and stewardship throughout the global medical community.

Developed by the British Society for Antimicrobial Chemotherapy (BSAC) and the University of Dundee, this landmark course is the first free online course available to all learners across the globe. The six-week course is designed to facilitate and empower healthcare professionals to provide safe, high-quality antibiotic use by understanding what antimicrobial stewardship is and how it can be applied in everyday practice.

The course is freely available to healthcare professionals across all disciplines. Participants will be able to interact with colleagues internationally. They will learn what antibiotic resistance means and how to promote responsible prescribing. They will acquire new skills and interventions that underpin antimicrobial stewardship. This will help reduce variation in practice, waste and harm from antibiotic overuse as well as misuse, which in turn will enhance patient safety and outcomes.

To date more than 8,500 individuals have pre-registered to take the course.

Please support our call to action by:• Sharing details of the MOOC via social media – such as Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn• Encouraging individuals and healthcare teams in your area to sign up for the MOOC• Invite colleagues and team members to join you in encouraging healthcare teams to learn together.• Follow the @asmooc Twitter account (a follow back is guaranteed!)• Tweet about the MOOC each week using #AbxSteward

EUCIC and BSAC are now evaluating future collaborative projects focused on limits of local implementation of antimicrobial stewardship as well new educational tools that could be locally country-adapted.